


Waiting for The Man

by storybored



Series: 25 days of Hellblazer [5]
Category: Constantine (TV)
Genre: Gen, Im sad we didn't get to see John's family, so I fixed it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-21
Updated: 2019-01-21
Packaged: 2019-10-13 15:53:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,299
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17490884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/storybored/pseuds/storybored
Summary: A modern but more comic accurate version of episode 13, "Waiting for The Man."





	Waiting for The Man

John didn’t want to be up yet, but Chas got a call from Jim Corrigan saying there was a detective friend of his that died and his death happened under mysterious circumstances. The tattoo on his arm ached, it had been doing that a lot lately more so after the incident with the Pazuzu, he should call Zee. See if she’s okay or if it’s just from dealing with Faust after being possessed by a demon king. He was tired and the hints of demonic hangover didn’t help anybody. Smoking like a chimney wasn’t helping and Chas wasn’t having it because of the pouring rain, his smoking was making Chas irritated and it was getting harder to focus on the road. He eventually pulled the taxi over letting John scramble out and feel the rain on his face, calm down re-establish tenuous control over his psyche and magic. He felt Gary’s ghost more and it was getting harder to block out. Zed was sitting underneath an umbrella watching John sit on the car hood and soak himself.

“I half expect you to throw yourself into a puddle.” Zed said breaking their silence.

John looked up at her and let out an amused huff,”Maybe if I was fresh from the looney bin.”

Chas Beeped the horn causing John to jump slightly. He turned around to face Chas who was holding his phone out of a barely cracked window,”John, it’s Cheryl.”

John walked over to Chas picking up the phone and leaning against Chas’s side of the cab as Zed decided to seek refuge inside of it,”Hello? Cheryl?”

John heard his sister’s panicked breathing and felt his paranoia spike higher then he thought possible. Cheryl let out a sob before trying to speak,”She’s gone! Johnny! She’s gone!”

John didn’t know who Cheryl was talking about, they hadn’t talked to each other since before his latest trip to Ravenscar. After Cheryl and Tony moved from London to the states because Tony couldn’t find work and they joined that cult Zed was running from. John didn’t know where his sister was anyways,”Who’s gone?”

Cheryl was dissolving into hysterics and that part of John that always wanted to cower in a corner when his dad was going after them, and the part of him that wanted to burst into tears whenever Cheryl cried, those parts of him started to claw their way out of the deep dark pit John threw them into. Cheryl practically screamed in his ear,”Gemma! My baby is missing!”

John stiffened feeling like ice water was poured down his spine,”Cheryl? Where are you?”

Cheryl started to cry and John started to feel miserable, but she was able to sob out an address. John flew into the car and told Chas to step on it to New Orleans,”Johnny don’t hang up.”

John sighed,”Just for a second I’ll call you right back.”

Cheryl let out a distressed noise, but her voice took on that bossy tone he constantly heard growing up,”Right back! Swear it John!”

John’s eyes widened,”Alright, I swear it.”

The call beeped as Cheryl hung up on him. Chas looked at him concerned from the rearview mirror, and zed turned around,”Who’s Cheryl?” 

John looked up from the phone,”My sister.”

Chas knew that tone well, it was John concerned. The same concern that he had when he heard that Geraldine was in trouble,”Everything okay?”

John sounded lost,”Gemma’s missing. Zed, you should sit this one out. See what Jim needs.”

Zed’s tone was steely,”No, you can’t just shut me out when something concerns your past.”

Chas continued to speed towards New Orleans,”She still hasn’t left him?”

“Of course she hasn’t. He’s a ponce, and we’ve never been good at leaving a relationship that was bad for us.” John growled, he hated Tony because he reminded John of his father and he got his sister and niece tangled up in the same cult Zed was running from.

“I agree with John on this. Tony got his family caught up in the Crusade, maybe you should sit this out.”

Zed shook her head,”No I’m going with you can’t you use magic or something to disguise me?”

John nodded,”I may have something from an old girlfriend that would work for our purposes.”

John passed Zed a red and silver necklace that felt heavier than it actually was. A common occurrence with magical objects. Chas looked at the necklace,”That belonged to Zatanna.”

It wasn’t a question, John wasn’t looking at the occupants in the front of the cab and waved his hand over the necklace,”She mailed it back to me while I was committed. Happy aniversary right? Esiugsid Dez Nitram. Put it on, it’ll work.”

Zed did as she was told and was surprised that she was able to see her changed appearance, it didn’t completely change her appearance but it changed her features enough so she looked nothing like her real self. Her hair was darker and straighter, her eyes were a deep inky brown similar to John’s, her face had sharper cheekbones and was slightly longer but if she studied her reflection closely she could see the hints of her true bone structure,”Neat trick.”

“Useful when avoiding psychotic ex-boyfriends.” John said shifting in the back seat he was getting antsy he couldn’t help it. Talking about Nick even tangentially made him ache, but lately even thinking of him or Zatanna made his body feel like a giant bruise. He wasn’t eating much even by his standards, what little he ate he was unable to keep down for very long. Chas and Zed contributed it to a constant hangover and yes he did increase his drinking and other vices but it just hurt so bad. He’d barely admits it to himself and he’d never admit it allowed, not enough drugs or alcohol in the world, but he misses Nick and Zatanna. He misses them, being around them, being with them. He misses how it was before, before the books, before Newcastle and Ravenscar, before Nick went off his trolley and they were untouchable. 

Zed didn’t know how to react to that and let John redial his sister, looking at her friend concerned. Cheryl’s voice was relieved when it came over the line,”Johnny?”

John’s voice was a suppressed groan, it was getting harder to focus,”How long has Gemma been missing?”

“I saw her last night but Tony and I got into a pretty big row, and she must’ve snuck out during that time.”

John nodded in understanding,”We’ll be at your place in 15-20 minutes.”

“She’s just so little, she couldn’t have gotten far.” Cheryl seemed to say that to reassure herself then John himself.

John didn’t say what he really was thinking, what Cheryl was probably thinking. That John made it to Lichfield when he was 8 before being dragged back to Liverpool by the cops. John hated the fact that he failed, he got caught and the next time he ran he made it to London. It wasn’t his best plan leaving in fall with barely any money and no real plan,”I’ll find her Cheryl. Don’t worry about it.”

John listened to Cheryl rant frantically on the other end as Chas pulled up as close as possible to the house with all the police cars. John started to climb out of the car before it was fully stopped and began to bolt towards Cheryl’s house. He looked at the cops standing underneath the porch protected to the rain while trying to discuss how they were going to look for Gemma. Jim Corrigan was standing there with his back to John as he began to fly up the steps. The police moved to block John as Jim’s face became irritated and slightly confused when he saw the demonologist coming up the stairs,”How did you find me? Magic?”

John looked irritated, but with how wet he was he looked more like a half drowned cat then anything actually intimidating,”No, now let me through.”

“John, a child is missing and her mother is very distressed. She doesn’t need your brand of people skills.” Jim said pulling him down the steps away from the entryway and Cheryl.

John snapped at him as Chas and Zed came up behind him,”I have excellent people skills. You’re just not a person.”

Jim looked a little thrown by the insult where's Chas looked resigned by John’s antics,”John, you just can’t say that to people.”

“Watch me.” John snarled slightly at Chas and Chas recoiled from him slightly. John stopped away into the side garden and peered into one of the windows and saw into the living room. He saw a dirty blonde head bowed on the sofa, he knocked on the window and the head turned around and he let out a sigh of relief. He knocked on the window pane ignoring the looks of disgust he got from the cops and locked eyes with Cheryl. His sister’s eyes were puffy from constantly crying and she looked both relieved and surprised to see him. John knew he probably looked like a drowned kitten and was staring into the warm living room pitifully. He knew how to play his sister to get her to bend to his will. He was her first baby after all, he put a slight whimper in his voice,”Cheryl, they won’t let me in!”

Cheryl put down the phone gesturing back around to the front of the house and John bolted back to the front of the house nearly slipping on some mud as he bounded up the stairs much to JIm’s protesting as Cheryl appeared in the doorway barely having times to open her arms to embrace her brother as he slammed into her. Cheryl let out a hitching breath as John buried his face in her shoulder,”Oh luv, you’re soaked.”

Cheryl pulled away from her brother to get a good look at him, she hadn’t seen him since before Newcastle. After his messy break up with Zatanna and Nick. He looked vaguely ill, worse than he usually did. He was far too skinny, she felt his ribs and the knobs of his spine when she hugged him, bruises peering out of his coat and collar. His smile looked forced and his eyes looked haunted. He looked to be heading the same way he was after Newcastle. Before Ravenscar. Jim ran up the stairs and opened his mouth to apologize for John when Chas caught up to him,”Mrs. Masters I am-”

“I see you’ve met the elder Constantine, Jim.” Chas smiled politely as Cheryl, and she returned it before going back to eyeing John critically,”Hey Cheryl.”

JIm looked between John and Cheryl, John who somehow twisted himself around Cheryl like a wet scarf,”You two are related?”

John nodded,”She’s my older sister. She raised me because dear old dad was no help.”

Cheryl shook her head slightly, and she turned to John,”Are you going to keep harassing the cops or will you go find my daughter?”

John nodded and went to ask where Gemma’s room was when Tony walked into the room and immediately grew pissed off when he recognized the trenchcoat wearing magician,”Get out of my house.”

John’s head whipped around as he spotted his brother in law followed by two men from the Resurrection Crusade. His eyes narrowed at Tony,”Sod off. Cheryl needs me.”

“She left for a reason.”

Chas sucked in a breath while Zed hid partially behind him. The two crusaders approached John and started to shove him around,”We don’t need your kind here, we can find Ms. Masters without you.”

John smiled at them, a flirtatious grin with a sharp deranged edge,”Would that kind be the queers, punk rockers or magicians?”

The two crusaders looked horrified at even touching John and he let out a dark laugh before blowing the three of them a sloppy kiss. He didn’t even look back at Cheryl when she told him where Gemma’s room was. Tony made a swipe at him and John brushed him off,”We don’t need you, John. After all, you don’t have the best track record with children do you.”

John’s face seized before becoming completely cold and hostile. For one quick terrible moment Cheryl was reminded of her father. Tony looked confused, more so at what John said compared to his flat professional tone,”I’m going to set you on fire.”

John rubbed his face and muttered his incantation into his hand before throwing the fire ball onto his brother in law’s feet before cackling madly as he headed up the stairs followed by Jim, Chas, and Zed. Cheryl actually looked pissed at him for once but that was a rather minor detail. 

John had no idea what to do, Zed seemed spooked at seeing Jim again in concert with her former cult, she hadn’t stopped shaking but that could easily be chocked up to the pouring icy rain. Zed grabbed John’s arm and sent Chas and Jim up ahead,”I think my visions are broken, I keep seeing Jim dead.”

John sighed and looked around Gemma’s room, it looked like a nun’s cell. Not the room of a ten year old girl. No posters on the walls, or frilly bedspreads, or stuffed animals. Just a large puzzle box on top of the closet,  _ there _ ,”We’ll continue this conversation later. But we’re putting you out of commision anyway. Best if they don’t know the extent of your abilities.”

Zed nodded as John grabbed the box, he recognized the box as soon as his hands touched it, his tattoo burned in recognition, Nick gave her the box on her third birthday, a place to store things that they all brought back for her. John was sure if he rifled through the box enough he’d find the griffin looking alebrije Nick bought her and the wooden crocodile he bought her from Senegal.

Cheryl knocked on the door, and Zed knew that siblings looked alike, but Cheryl and John didn’t really. They looked to be part of a matched set, Cheryl looked softer, gentler. None of John’s defiance, arrogance or general hard edges. There was an underlying frantic energy that they shared and a slight distrust in their brown eyes. John immediately stopped what he was doing and smiled at her reassuringly,”Is- Is there anything you need, Our John?”

John made a face at the childish nickname,”A taser?”

Cheryl’s voice became suspicious,”Why?”

John realized his misstep,”No reason. Zee? Why don’t you hang with Cheryl make sure her idiot of a husband stays out of my way.”

Cheryl gave John a teary glare and John at least had the dignity to look slightly bad for bullying Tony while Gemma was missing, she held a hand out for Zed,”Come on, I’ll tell you what John was like when he was little.”

John started to fidget with the puzzle box trying to subtly get it open while Chas laughed and followed Cheryl down the stairs.

They settled into the kitchen, Cheryl rubbed her thigh absently and Zed sat on the counter,”So what was John like as a kid? Happy?”

Cheryl shook her head,”No he was never really happy, not until after he left Liverpool.”

She didn’t speak the city’s name with the same contempt that John did, it was almost warm,”Do you know what happened at Newcastle?”

Chas and Cheryl shared a look, and Cheryl shook her head,”No. Not really. No one knows what happened besides John screwed up. None of his old  _ friends _ have been exactly forthcoming. Most of them hating his guts, and the two that didn’t weren’t exactly the sharing type. But it was bad, he wasn’t, isn’t okay. How’s he been?”

Chas took a deep breathe,”Barely this side of fine, even for John standards.”

“Maybe he should stop with all of  _ this _ .” Cheryl wrapped her arms around herself,”It hasn’t brought him anything but pain.”

“It brought him Nick and Zatanna, as long as John remembers them ,he won’t stop using magic.” Chas replied, he knew that Cheryl didn’t understand magic and her main concern was John. It would always be John, even when John was past the point of no return.

Zed looking between the two of them, and touched the necklace she was wearing,”Who’s Zatanna?”

Cruel looked like she was about to answer when the lights flickered causing Cheryl to take a deep breath in response, and pinched the bridge of her nose,”Why is he like this?”

John rocked down the stairs with blood dripping from his eyes eyes like tears, his hair sticking up oddly and he smelled vaguely of smoke, but not his tobacco smoke. More like he’d been in the middle of an electrical fire. John tried to wipe away the blood away, but only smeared it around his face,”I know where she went. A play structure not to far from here.” 

Chas looked at Cheryl,”I’ll stay with Cheryl. Keep Tony out of the way.”

John nodded,”I’ll take Jim and Zee. We’ll keep in touch.” 

Cheryl nodded,”Just, Just bring her back. I don’t care how.”

* * *

 

_ John woke up to arms wrapped tightly around his waist. He felt scruff rub against his shoulder, he felt gentle kisses on the back of his neck,”Peaches? You up?” _

_ John nearly started crying, how he missed that voice. That beautiful voice, that voice which was damned to hell. John rolled over and faced Nick. One of the only people who loved him unconditionally, or at least John thought he did,”Just… meditating.” _

_ Nick’s eyes narrowed slightly, he knew exactly what John was doing,”When was the last time you did that?” _

_ John shrugged,”Not for awhile.” _

_ Nick pulled John on top of him, and John rested his head on Nick’s chest listening to his heartbeat and the waves. Waves? John sat up trying to locate the sound, this wasn’t their apartment. With the lack of blood and oil stained sheets because no matter how hard they tried they just couldn’t get it out, with the lack of Zatanna. Where was she? Nick seemed to know immediately what was going on in his brain and started to soothe him, he sat up grabbing John’s arm,”Hey, hey. She’s okay. She got up earlier this morning and went for a swim. Remember we’re in Italy? On vacation?” _

_ John nodded, God his head hurt. This wasn’t real, he was dead, he was dead because John killed him. Nick seemed to notice John’s silent tears and gently wiped them away,”This isn’t real. You’re dead.” _

_ Nick smiled at John, all cockeyed and charming,”I know and I’m sorry, but you brought me here for a reason. You need me here to tell you something. Something you already know.” _

_ John felt emboldened to talk, it, he, was just a projection of John’s modge podged subconscious. It wasn’t real,“I can’t defeat the brujeria on my own.” _

_ Nick hummed for a moment, looking thoughtful,”Who said you had to? Get your old team together. Get Zatanna, love her. Let her help.” _

_ John kisses Nick sadly, passionately. This was a goodbye,”I love you.” _

_ Nick’s voice was affectionate,”I love you too. Now wake up, Johnny. Find Gemma, she needs you right now.” _

_ The dream started to dissolve and John grabbed Nick’s wrist,”Wait! Where do I begin?” _

_ “You have the address, tell the cop. He’ll take you there.” _

* * *

 

John startles awake as they pull up to the abandoned play structure where Gemma was last seen. His head was just so full, Constant loud chattering, screaming practically. John pressed his hands against his eyes. Last thing he needs is his inner demons coming out again, Jim went to get out of the car,”I know where to go… Just give me a minute.”

John was trying to sort through the tangled stimuli, the address was like a needle in a stack of needles, he was just trying to find the right one. Zed turned back and touched his knee, helping him sort through the white noise, she found the address before he did,”4 Deleano Street. Drive.”

“You said Deleano street are you sure?”

John nodded after Zed found the address it was the only thing in his mind, branded across his every thought,”Positive, why?”

Jim sped up the car,”I know the address, a case I worked about 6 years ago. Husband killed his wife on their wedding night, claimed the Devil told him to do it. Said she wasn’t the virgin bride he deserved.”

John shivered slightly,”Don’t let the devil know, he’s a touch sensitive when it comes to that.”

Zed’s tone was obviously joking,”Do you, like, know him?”

John nodded,”Yep owns a bar in Los Angeles, an old friend works there. I also did sleep with him once or twice.”

Jim nodded, he was really starting to hate magic, he decided to change the subject back to the case,”Is Gemma like you? Can she do magic?”   
John was horrified at the very thought,”No, I try to keep it as far away from her as possible.”

“Do you think she was a target because of you?”

“No, most people don’t know about her. The only person who would is dead.” 

“You sure about that?”

“Watched the knife enter his chest myself.” John heard Nick’s screams and curses ring in his ear,”Watched his soul be dragged to hell. He’s not a problem.”

Jim didn’t know how to respond to that, besides wishing Zed would look at him much less talk to him, and that he wished his life could go back to seminormal. 

Zed resisted the urge to pry into John’s subconscious, it never ended well for either party involved, especially after she told him the news about his mother. The books he’d been reading as of late had less to do with demons and more with ghosts, necromancy. She knew it wasn’t going to end well for him. 

John could feel her judgement, he didn’t need anyone to tell him how to interact with people. He made it this far, people were unreliable, dangerous, monsters. Give him a demon or angry spirit over a normal human person. John watched as they pulled up to a ramshackle house, Gemma was in there. He knew it, she had to be, he felt the synchronicity curling in his gut. Damn he was feeling lucky.

John bolted into the house before the car was fully stopped, he recoiled from the smell, like  _ Newcastle _ . But he wasn’t there, that was years ago, and miles away, an ocean away. He wasn’t in the Casanova Club, facing down the Norfulthing with an improperly named demon. He was facing down a man, a human man, who had his niece and was going to kill her.

John took off towards the smell, he needed to know if he was too late. He needed to be able to look Cheryl in the eye and tell her that he tried everything but he still wasn’t fast enough. He open the door and gagged at the smell, he saw three bodies in the bed and loathed his next thought as he pulled the sheet back _ ,’Please don’t be her, don’t let it be Gemma. Oh thank God.’ _

John winced at the thought, those were someone else’s babies, but they weren’t his, she was still out there somewhere. Zed recoiled at the sight as John pushed her and Jim out of the room and shut the door behind him,”We need to check the upstairs if they’re not there, they are on the grounds.”

Jim nodded,”We’ll take the downstairs, you take the up.”

John nodded,”If I need you I’ll let out a little whistle that suddenly chokes off into silence.”

John headed up the stairs conjuring a fireball in his hands, typically that was enough to scare off satanists, it was rare for them to be able to do real magic. And honestly summoning demons acted a bit like making a dangerous cake, usually a Satanist would wipe themself out because they improperly named the hellion. 

John entered the attic his nose wrinkling at the smell of blood. There was a heavy perfume in the air, trying and failing to cover the stench of death. John noticed a burned spot in the rug, what looked to be an oil pan was on the floor shattered with what looked to be the remains of a broken candle,’ _ Clever girl. Throwing a candle at the bastard, don’t worry Gem, I’m coming for you.’ _

John caught up with with Jim and Zed and they headed out to the grounds in a group. John headed towards the caterpillar ride, Jim and Zed went around the perimeter of the carnival rides. John shuddered at the energy of this place. It felt wrong, it didn’t feel real. Places that didn’t feel real always ended terrible for John, and not like truck stop real. But abandoned house real, Casanova Club real, bad shit real. He didn’t want this to end badly. 

John heard a thump and felt the fire grow hotter with much lightening crackle through his bones, it was the first time since Pazuzu that he felt alive, the magic running through his veins… He could destroy the man and nothing would stop him. And nothing could stop him. John saw the man dragging Gemma’s unconscious body back towards the house, and John knew he probably looked ten kinds of terrifying and unhinged. God, he didn’t even sound human,”Let her go.”

The man ran away and John didn’t give chase, he felt the magic slowly receded from him to where it sat just under his skin, there if he needed it. John ran up to Gemma and felt for her pulse, it was weak but there. She moaned under his touch,”Gemma? Gemma? Wake up, luvvy, wake up.”

Gemma’s eyes fluttered and she gasped when she saw her uncle, her voice was weak,”Uncle John?”

John picked her up cradling her,”’m right here, sweetie. Come on we’ll get you home.” 

Gemma gripped John’s coat and inhaled deeply, the smell of her uncle’s coat made her feel safe,”I want mum. Is she worried?”

John nodded, he heard a commotion up ahead, Jim trying to wrestle a spade from Zed,”Hey, hey, we got him. We got him.”

John couldn’t help the joke,”Doing a bit of gardening, Love?”

Gemma let out a slight laugh as John set her down. She gripped John tightly as Zed approached her, The Man still a groaning heap on the ground,”You okay, sweetie?”

Zed put a hand on Gemma’s shoulders. Gemma’s grip tightened on John’s coat as she looked up to him waiting to see if she was safe from the monster. John nodded and took off his coat draping it over her shoulders. She wrapped it around her like it was a shield,”Go with Zed, you’re safe now.”

Gemma followed Zed as her uncle approached the police officer, looking like a cornered animal. She remembered that when he was like that it never ended well, usually a fight with her father that her mum would shut down.

John waited until Gemma was out of earshot before he started to talk, he hated people more and more, Jim was pulling The Man up and cuffing him,”Tell me, what would happen if a man like this, after everything he’s done, all the children he’s….murdered, what would happen if he try and run away?

Jim looked at John critically,”He ain’t no demon, ain’t no ghost. He’s a man.”

John snarled, this had nothing to do with Gemma, this had to do with the three dead little girls in the bedroom. And Jim knew that the second he met John’ s eyes righteous anger blazed like hell fire,”a man? Is he, Jim?”

Jim thought for a second, no one else had to know. He removed the handcuffs and dropped them,”Run.”

The Man bolted away and Jim looked at John before taking the shot, John got a small sense of satisfaction. He knew someone who’d get a kick out of him down below. And it was a clove smoking necromancer who could skeeve his way out of trouble. John head back towards the house,”I have some ghosts to take care of. Meet you at the car.”

Jim walked to the car and saw Zed in the backseat talking to Gemma, she seemed to be in shock and fiddling with a lighter. Not flicking it on and off as John was prone to do but just tracing the carvings on it.

Jim slid into the driver's seat and turned to face Gemma,”Your uncle will be joining us in a minute he just needs to deal with something.”

Gemma’s voice was soft, the same accent as John’s though it was fading,”The girls. They were ghosts weren’t they?”

Jim shrugged,”I don’t know. I’m new to this magic thing. Zed?”

Zed shrugged,”That’s something to ask your uncle.”

Zed was about to touch Gemma to try and get a vision from her when there was a knock on the window, John was there politely telling her to get in the front seat. Zed glared at him but slid into the passenger seat. Gemma was silent as John stole the lighter and lit a cigarette. Jim glared at John from the rearview mirror,”John.”

John blew his smoke at Jim mockingly and Gemma giggled, leaning against her uncle. John put an arm around her and Gemma felt safe, like nothing could hurt her. And nothing could because her Uncle John was infallible. Zed’s phone started to ring as Jim began to drive back to Cheryl’s place. Zed answered the phone without checking the Caller ID,”Hey Chas… oh, hi Cheryl. Yeah, they’re in the back. Here they are.”

John made a grabbing motion for the phone and held it between him and Gemma,”Hey, Pet.”

Cheryl’s voice was relieved,”Where’s Gemma?”

Gemma’s voice was shy, John smiled reassuringly at her,”Hi, Mum.”

“Oh thank god.” Cheryl’s sighed,”Come straight home.”

John huffed,”Not the one driving, love.”

Cheryl’s voice was steely,”Find a way.”

John shared a look with Gemma, his voice was slightly mocking”Yes mummy. Ta’.”

John hung up the phone before tossing it back to Zed, and settled back into the seat. Gemma passed out against her Uncle, the crash of adrenaline taking it out of her. John watched as the car pulled up to the house, Cheryl was clutching her sweater and standing on the porch outside of the rain, John carried Gemma out of the car and into the house setting her on the couch. Jim shoved off back to the precinct to clarify what happened to The Man. Zed hung behind Chas glad that the Resurrection Crusade left. She watched John interact with Cheryl, buzzing around her like a dumb lost bumblebee. Cheryl had pulled Gemma into her lap and was stroking her hair reassuringly, trying to soothe her baby. John made an awkward motion towards the door, and Cheryl grabbed his arm pulling him next to her on the couch. It felt wrong seeing John that vulnerable, it felt unnatural. She jumped when she felt someone touch her arm and relaxed when she saw that it was Chas, he tugged her away from the living room,”Come on, let’s go find a hotel. I don’t think Cheryl will let John out of her site. Let’s leave them alone.”


End file.
